Are writers reading any of this stuff?

Are writers reading any of this stuff?

Posted on August 10th, 2008 by Robert Anthony Watts

Robert: I’ve been thinking about the amazing number of online sites and magazines out there. Do you think people who write for these sites actually read the work of others on those sites? I’m sensing we’re in the “I write for it but don’t read it” era of writing and publishing. Perhaps it has always been thus. I don’t know if most contributors to academic publications read most of the work in the publications they write for … am I wrong? Yet now the proliferation of sites makes the imbalance between writing and reading more pronounced. And of course there is the question of whether there is anything wrong with this emphasis on production and writing as opposed to reading? As a teacher, I too am emphasizing writing more than reading, trying to get my students to write their way into engaging a subject. Any thoughts on this?

Paula: You raise a point that does have application to myself. I write for lots of journals, both print and online, and I certainly don’t read everything in those journals. Sometimes this is a time question, or it may in some cases be a matter of not wanting to let other voices get in the way of my own: an anxiety of influence sort of thing. It is also, finally, as you suggest, a function of the myriad of things to read out there. It’s overwhelming, and sometimes it feels like one has to simply ignore much of the avalanche in order to keep afloat. I also remember a remark made by some famous writer who said he spent the first third of his life, living, the next third, reading, and the last third, writing — I’m not sure about this breakdown, but there’s something to it. I certainly read a great deal growing up and somehow I see this as my capital for writing now. I still read lots of books (though often for the purpose of reviewing them), but I notice, when I don’t have to write about a book, I don’t always finish it if I’m not really taken with it; when I was younger it would have been unthinkable for me to leave a book, even a bad one, unfinished. I should add that I know many people who don’t write at all but who read voraciously. So I wonder if we’re becoming a divided nation: we have writers and we have readers, and they don’t overlap as much as they used to: a new sort of division of labor.

Robert: A divided nation — readers vs. writers with little overlap. That’s a great phrase. But I forget that there are all these people out there who read and do not write. So the folks who write a lot and read less can feel less guilty!